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Have you ever thought about having your very own solar system — that is, solar panel system? There are several ways to get solar power at home: you can buy a rooftop system, lease a system, or sign a power purchase agreement (PPA) to buy power a system produces. If you’re thinking of using solar power at home, consider the costs and benefits of the arrangements.

At the FTC, one of our goals is to stop scammers and end their schemes. Sometimes, that requires persistence. Take the case announced today by the FTC and the Florida Attorney General against Lifewatch, Inc., a company that sells medical alert systems, mostly to older people.

Whether in a hotel or airport across the world, or in the coffee shop just down the street, chances are you’ve used free Wi-Fi hotspots. While convenient, they’re often unsecure. So how can you reduce your risk? Encryption — having your information scrambled into code — is key to staying secure online.

“The Federal Trade Commission works for America’s consumers in every community.” I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve said those words, or heard them from my colleagues – and that’s a good thing. Since fraud affects every community in our country, it bears repeating: the FTC works for your community.

Let me set the scene: your friend John is rushing to get his daughter from school and his son to the soccer field, and he still needs to stop at the grocery store because there’s nothing in the fridge. In the midst of this everyday madness, he gets a text message from Google with a verification code. He thinks, “That’s weird. Maybe I should log in to my email and see what’s going on.”

Let’s be honest: I spend more time playing games on my smart phone than talking on it. Our phones have become our family photo albums, personal gaming systems, calendars, encyclopedias, navigators, and instant messengers. If you can think of an activity, there’s probably an app for it.

Unfortunately, some apps might not be what they claim, and downloading the wrong app could put your phone on the fritz. According to the FTC, that’s what happened to thousands of people who downloaded the Prized app before it was removed from the app store.

Spot a good deal on a skin care product online? Some ads say you can try a product out for free before committing to it. But know this: “free” trials aren’t always free — they might come with hidden fees and other strings attached.